The call by the Vice President, Dr. Alhaji Maha¬mudu Bawumia, to anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies in Africa to harness digital technology to fight corruption is one of the top stories in the Ghanaian press on Friday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the Vice President, Dr. Alhaji Maha-mudu Bawumia, has called on anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies in Africa to harness digital technology to fight corruption.
He said: “In an age of sophisticated artificial intelligence, the cyber crime enabler is for anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies to invest in digital forensics and tools that will enable our various countries to monitor, detect and disrupt the entire corruption value chain. “.
The Vice President made the call at the 14th Commonwealth Regional Conference and Annual Regional Conference of African Commonwealth Anti-Corruption Agencies, ongoing in Accra.
The four-day event is organized by the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), with the theme: “Strengthening Institutions and Promoting Transparency: A Tool to Fight Corruption in Commonwealth Africa”.
More than 120 representatives of anti-corruption institutions from 21 Commonwealth countries are taking part.
Dr Bawumia, who delivered the keynote address on: “Forging Partnerships: A Blueprint for Criminal Investigations and Asset Recovery in Commonwealth Africa”, said that with the right digital tools and their use, anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies law could defeat the worst forms of public corruption, including the networks that supported it.
The newspaper reports that the country’s annual inflation rate eased to 25.0 percent in April from 25.8 in March, the Ghana Statistics Service (GSS) said.
Monthly inflation between March and April this year stood at 1.8%.
Data made available to the Ghanaian Times in Accra on Wednesday on Ghana’s April 2024 Consumer Price Index and Inflation by the GSS attributed the marginal fall in the April inflation rate to the fall in the food inflation rate.
Food inflation, the data showed, eased 2.1 percent to 26.8 percent in April from 29.6 percent in March.
Vegetables, tubers, plantains, bananas and cooking pulses, prepared foods and other food products, fish and other seafood, fruits and nuts, sugar, confectionery and desserts recorded inflation of 39.5% and 27.2%, 29.6% . percent, 27.7 percent, 27.1 percent respectively, which was above the national average of 26.8 percent.
Also, fruit and vegetable juices, coffee and coffee substitutes, tea and related products and cocoa beverages also recorded inflation rates of 33.1%, 39.5%, 59.3% and 63.4% respectively.
Cereals and cereals, milk and other milk products and eggs, oil and fats, water and soft drinks recorded inflation rates of 15.4%, 19.7%, 18.4%, 8.9%, 25.5% respectively below the national average. 26.8 percent.
Non-food inflation, the data showed, rose 1.5 percent to 23.5 percent in April from 22.6 percent in March.
According to non-food inflation, the data indicated restaurants and accommodation, personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services, health, recreation, sports and culture recorded inflation rates of 33.9%, 31.9%, 31.2% , 28.7%. cents respectively above the national average of 23.5%.
The Graphic reports that climate change and illegal mining, popularly known as Galamsey, are the biggest threats facing cocoa production, Ghana’s biggest source of foreign exchange income.
In a discussion organized by Graphic Online on social networking site YouTube, titled ‘Your Ghana, My Ghana’, experts said changes in rainfall patterns and global warming are making planning in the cocoa sub-sector difficult, while the indiscriminate pursuit of gold illegally by artisanal miners also affects cash crop cultivation.
The two panelists, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Joseph Boahen Aidoo and the General Secretary of the Ghana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU), Edward Kareweh, discussed cocoa production in Ghana and related issues on : “Cocoa will be part of Ghana’s future.”
Mr Aidoo lamented that although the country’s greenhouse emissions and carbon footprint were practically negligible, global warming had adversely affected rainfall patterns making planning for the crop extremely difficult.
“At times when we don’t expect rains, they come. When you want rains, they don’t come. That’s it for cocoa. In 2020, the whole of June, July and August had no rain at all.
Then from October ending, November, December, January and February, it rained. Can you imagine? January, February and it was raining like we were June, July,” he recalls.
On the issue of ‘galamsey’, COCOBOD’s Managing Director pointed out that the emboldened activities of the perpetrators had made many water bodies surrounding cocoa farms dangerous for farmers.
“We commissioned the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) to do a preliminary assessment for us and in the report they brought, almost all the rivers were polluted and you cannot use this milky muddy water to do anything with the coco
The newspaper reports that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned countries such as Ghana, which still have inflation above the central bank’s target range, to continue to maintain a tight monetary policy.
The fund said that while inflation in these countries may have been on a steady decline in recent months, it was still too early to ease their monetary policy rates.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra, IMF Africa chief Luc Eyraud said Ghana and countries in that position could hold off on raising interest rates, but added it would be too early to to reduce them.
Core inflation in sub-Saharan Africa has been easing since peaking in November 2022, with the situation varying across countries.
Based on the latest available data as of February 2024, about a third of countries are still experiencing double-digit inflation, largely due to significant currency devaluations, and even among countries with sharp declines in inflation, only a few have reduced policy rates over the past 12 months, with the majority choosing to continue to tighten or keep policy rates high, even after inflation has passed its peak.
In Ghana, the economy is battling high inflation, with the rate hitting a 22-year high and peaking at 54.1% in December 2022.
In response to rising inflation, the Bank of Ghana’s Monetary Policy Committee maintained a tight monetary policy stance by steadily raising the policy rate to 30% until the end of 2023.
GIK/APA
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Ghana: Press focuses on leveraging digital technology to fight corruption, others | APAnews
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